Adjustable mounting means



ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING MEANS `Filed Qot. 11, 1965 3,312,873 n ADJUSTABLEMOUNTING MEANS Harris I. Stanback, Lexington, Ky.,

Company, Park Ridge, Ill., a corporation of Michigan Filed ct. 11, 1965,Ser. No. 494,849 Claims. (Cl. 317-119) This invention relates to .anadjustable mounting means for the mounting pan of an electricalp-anelboard or load center.

An object Iof the invention is to provide means for mounting a firstmember such as a mounting pan of an electrical panelboard in adjustablyspaced relationship to a second separate member such as a rear wallportion of a box of an electrical panelboard, the mounting meanscomprising a plurality of screws threaded into both of said members.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a front view of an electrical panelboardor load center constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken line 2 2 of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the mounting pan and screw[assembly and the insulating base, bus b-ar, and neutral wire lconnectorassembly Iof the electrical panelboard of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the mounting pan andthe rear wall ofthe box of the electrical panelboard of FIG. 1, showingone ofthe adjusting screws; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing a difgenerally along theI ferent adjusted position of the screw vand mounting pan with respectto the rear wall of the box.

FIGS. 1 and 2 disclose an electrical panelboard including a box and acover and door assembly 12 secured thereto by a plurality of screws 13.The box 10 contains a mounting pan 14 and an insulating base, bus bar,and neutral wire connector assembly 16 shown best in FIG. 3. The pan 14lan-d assembly 16 may be of any suitable type and for purposes ofillustration are of the type disclosed in copending application, Ser.No. 494,854, tiled on Oct. 1l, 1965, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention, to which reference may be had for a fullerdescription.

In `accordance with the present invention, three screws 18 are provi-dedfor adjustably mounting the mounting pan 14 with respect to a rear wallportion 10a of the box 10, one lof the screws 18 being shown in detailin FIGS. 4 and 5. The shank portion of each screw includes a relativelylarge diameter portion 18a adjacent the head of the screw and arelatively small diameter portion 18b opposite the head end of thescrew, the portions 18a and 18b being oppositely threaded. Preferably,the portion 18a is provided with left-hand threads and the portion 18bis provided with right-hand threads.

The cover and door assembly 12 is of the type known as ush mounting andis adapted to bear against interior walls of various thicknesses, theadjustment being taken up by the screws 13. The adjustment provided bythe screws 18 enables circuit controlling devices such as a pluralitylot" molded-case circuit breakers 20 mounted on the mounting p-an 14 andbase and bus bar assembly 16 to be fitted snugly against an interiortrim panel portion assignor to Square D l,

l United States Patent O ICC 12a of the assembly 12 for variouspositions of the assembly 12 with respect to the box 10.

Preferably the rear wall portion 10a of the box 10 is provided withthree small interior dome portions 10b each of which is provided with acentral extruded portion 10c dening a threaded aperture which receivesthe portion 18b of a respective one of the screws 18. The mounting pan14 is provided with corresponding extruded portions 14a definingthreaded apertures which receive the portions 18a of the respectivescrews 18. Each of the screws 18 may be adjusted separately to. aconsiderable extent before binding occurs, at which time the other twoScrews 13 would be adjusted in turn to return the mounting pan 14 to aposition in which it is substantially parallel to the interior trimpanel portion 12a. v

Assuming that the parts are in the relative positions shown in FIG. 4,the respective screw 18 may be turned counterclockwise, as viewed fromthe head end, to place the parts in lthe relative positions shown inFIG. 5. Because the portion 18b is provided with right-hand threads,such counterclockwise rotation moves it out of the respective domeportion 10b, and because the portion 18a is provided with left-handthreads, counterclockwise rotation will move the mounting pan 14 towardthe head of the screw 18. The total adjustment of the mounting pan 14with respect to the rear wall portion 10h of the box 10 will then be theamount the screw portion 18b moves out of the dome portion 10b plus theamount the mounting pan 14 moves outwardly along the screw portion 18a.This results in a comparatively rapid adjustment.

When the final adjusted position of the mounting pan 14 is to berelatively close to the rear wall portion 10a of the box 10, assemblymay be made by first placing the mounting pan 14 against the rear wallportion 10a with the threaded apertures aligned, inserting the portions18b of the screws 18 through the respective extruded portions 14a of themounting pan 14 and turning the screws clockwise to thread the portions18b as far as they will go into the respective extruded portions 1Go ofthe rear wall portion 10a of 'the box 10, and -then turning the screwscounterclockwise a desired .amount to 4thread the portions 18a into therespective extruded portions 14a and adjustably move the mounting pan 14away from the rear wall portion 10a.

When the final adjusted positionof the mounting pan 14 is to berelatively far from the rear wall portion 10a of the box 10, assemblymay be made by first inserting the portions 18a of the screws 18 intothe respective extruded portions 14a of the mounting pan 14 and turningthe screws counterclockwise to thread the portions 18a as far as theywill go into the respective extruded portions 14a, and then insertingthe portions 18b of the screws 18 into the respective extruded portions10c of the rear wall portion 10a of the box 10 and turning the screwsclockwise a desired amount to thread the portions 18b into therespective extruded portions lic and adjustably move the mounting pian14 toward the rear wall portion 10a.

I claim:

1. An assembly comprising a first member, a second member, and means foradjustably mounting said rst member in spaced relationship to saidsec-ond member, said mounting means comprising means on said secondmember defining a plurality of spaced internally threaded apertures ofrelatively small diameter, means on said iirst member defining aplurality of correspondingly spaced internally threaded apertures ofrelatively large diameter, and a plurality of screws each having, aportion of relatively small diameter threaded into one of said aperturesof said second member and a portion lof relatively large diameterthreaded into a corresponding one of said apertures of said firstmember.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said small diameter andsaid large diameter portions of each of said screws are -oppositelythreaded.

3. An assembly las claimed in claim 1, wherein said apertures of saidsecond member and the small diameter portions -of said screws areprovided with right-hand threads and said apertures of said first memberand the large diameter portions of said screws are provided withleft-hand threads.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,036,044 3/1936Hammer 317-119 2,282,520 5/1942 Jackson 317ll9 2,287,684 6/ 1942 Jacksonet a1. 174-57 2,599,695 6/ 1952 Christensen 317-119 3,202,881 8/ 1965'Carlyle' 317-120 ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

H. O. I ONES, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A FIRST MEMBER, A SECOND MEMBER, AND MEANS FORADJUSTABLY MOUNTING SAID FIRST MEMBER IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO SAIDSECOND MEMBER, SAID MOUNTING MEANS COMPRISING MEANS ON SAID SECONDMEMBER DEFINING A PLURALITY OF SPACED INTERNALLY THREADED APERTURES OFRELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETER, MEANS ON SAID FIRST MEMBER DEFINING APLURALITY OF CORRESPONDINGLY SPACED INTERNALLY THREADED APERTURES OFRELATIVELY LARGE DIAMETER, AND A PLURALITY OF SCREWS EACH HAVING APORTION OF RELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETER THREADED INTO ONE OF SAID APERTURESOF SAID SECOND MEMBER AND A PORTION OF RELATIVELY LARGE DIAMETERTHREADED INTO A CORRESPONDING ONE OF SAID APERTURES OF SAID FIRSTMEMBER.